**5. Conclusions**

In the present study, Landsat images were used to identify and analyze the rural PLES of different island types in the western sea area of Guangdong Province, and the PLES distribution characteristics and formation mechanism were explored. The following conclusions can be drawn.


This work only qualitatively analyzed the balance of the rural PLES of islands and how the rural PLES meet the needs of the islanders because the village-level social and economic data lacked statistics from the local statistical bureau. Such data is challenging to obtain from fieldwork. Nevertheless, a quantitative analysis of the social and economic data will be conducted in the future.

**Author Contributions:** Conceptualization, R.B. and Y.P.; methodology, R.B.; software, R.B.; validation, R.B.; formal analysis, R.B. and Y.P.; investigation, R.B. and Y.P.; resources, Y.S.; data curation, R.B., Y.S. and Y.P.; writing—original draft preparation, R.B.; writing—review and editing, R.B., Y.S. and Y.P.; visualization, R.B.; supervision, Y.S. and Y.P.; project administration, Y.S. and Y.P.; funding acquisition, Y.S. and Y.P. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

**Funding:** This research was funded by National Natural Science Foundation of China, grant number 51978275.

**Institutional Review Board Statement:** Not applicable.

**Informed Consent Statement:** Not applicable.

**Data Availability Statement:** Not applicable.

**Acknowledgments:** The supports from Bureaus of Natural Resources in Yangjiang City, Zhanjiang City, and Taishan City, Agricultural Departments and local government offices of the islands in the study area, Local Chronicles Museum are acknowledged. The technological advises from Cheng Jiang from Western Sydney University are well acknowledged.

**Conflicts of Interest:** The authors declare no conflict of interest.
